Apparatus for sealing containers



PL' P. EACH. APPAMHES F03 SEAHHG SMWMEERS.

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N. P. BA CH. AIPARATUS FOR SEALING CONTAINERS.

APPLICATION man FEB. 25. 1920. 1922 e sums-sun 2.

Patehted July 25 N. P. EACH. APPARATUS FUR SEALING BWNAWEBS.

KPPUCATIQW HLED FEB. 25. 2920. 2,223,522. Pafiwted July 25, 1222.

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N. P. BACH. APPARATUS FOR SEALING CONTAINERS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 25, I920.

@HIOM/L N. P. BACH. APPARATUS FOR SEALING CONTAINERS. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 25, 1920.

6 SHEEI$-SHEET 5- Patented July 25, 1922.

N. P. BACH. APPARATUS FOR SEALING CONTAINERS.

1&42395910 APPLICATION FILED FEB. 25, I920. 25

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\ of Millburn, countyof Essex,

BIEILS P. RAGE, OF MILLBURN, NEW JERSEY, AS SIGNOR TO PIFERIEG'I VACUU OAN-NING COMPANY, OF YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

APPARATUS roe SEALING conramnns.

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Specification 01? Letters Patent.

Application filed February 25,1920 Serial No. 361,248.

To all whom it may concern:

a subject of the King of Denmark, and .a resident and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Sealing Containers, of which the following is a specification. 4

My invention relates to an improved apparatus for sealing containers, and an object thereof'is the provision of an apparatus em- 'bodying a vacuumizing chamber wherein the containersare sealed under vacuum, an improved valve mechanlsm being provlded whereby the unsealed containers may be fed into the vacuumizing chamber and the sealed containers discharged therefrom ,withsubstantially on out breaking the vacuum in the chamber.

In the accompanying drawings wherein an embodiment of my invention has been illustrated, I 1 v Fig. '1 is an elevation ofa machine embodying my invention;

Fig. 21 is a plan view showing the feed and discharge mechanism for feeding the containers to the vacuumizing chamber and discharging them therefrom Fig. 3 is a view similar to the parts being brokenaway to. show details of construction; this view being taken the line-3--3 of Fig. a; Fig. 4 is a view showing the feeding mechanism and the discharge mechanism in elevation with the driving mechanism therefor Fig. 5 is a sectional, elevational view of the magazines for the container tops, this figure being taken substantially on the line 55 of Fig. 6; Fig. 6 is a plan view partially in section;

of the inlet valve mechanism.

' Referring tothe drawings in detail, 1 designates a vacuumiz'ing chamber into which in detail.

containers are fed by means of a feeding mechanism shown in lan in Figs. 2 and 3 and in elevation in igs. 1 and 4. This feeding mechanism comprises a rotary disk 2 having container-engaging lugs 3, the disk being. driven by a gear train shown in Fig. 4, and which will be hereinafter described I may mention, however, that the disk is driven by: a gear amounted at the base of a column 5 carrying the dlsk. The containers-desi nated 7 are placed upon Fig. 2, some of mounted on t r fi l ng and hen the disk is rotated the container-engaging lugs 3 will engage the containers to advance them toward the vacuumizing chamber 1, the containers travelling on the table or disk between'curved guides 8 and 9.

As each container reaches a position adj acent the forward end' of the guide 8, it isengaged by a star wheel 10 rotating in synchronism with the disk' or table 2 and which engages the moving container to advance the same toward the vacuumizing chamber guided now by the curved guides 9 and-11, the containers'at this time having travelled Patented July 25, 1922.

out of contact with the guide 8. The star sition to receive a containen as the latter is moved up to the periphery of the valve by rotation of the star wheel 10'.

The rotary inlet-valve 12, it will be noticed, is set into a port 37 in the wall of the vacuumizing chamber, the port conforming tothe cylindrical periphery of the valve.

The containers riding in the pockets 13 are carried by the rotating inlet valve until the latter reaches the position shown in at which time a finger 14 carried by the'valve engages the container and transfers the same to a chain 15 within the vacuumizing chamher. The finger 14 may be operatedby any suitable mechanism to cause the finger to move from the full-line position of Fig. 3 to the dotted-line position of said ,figure to effect the mentioned transfer of the container. In the present instance the fingers are operated through the medium of lever arms 16 he shafts 17 which carry the fingers, the upper end of these lever arms, as shown in Fig. 4, carrying a roller 6 which Fig. 3 I

is adapted to engage a cam slot 18 provided sealing station 57 within chamber, dia

' the disk 2, star wheel 10 and the inlet valve 12, are driven through the medium of a gear train (shown in Fig. 4), this gear train comprising spur gears 4, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 and 32, the gears 30 and 32 driving the inlet valve and discharge valve, respectively. The chain 15 isdriven through the medium of a sprocket 32', chain 33, a sprocket 33' and aworm wheel and worm 34 and 35, respectively, the latter in turn being driven by a sprocket chain 65 which in turn is driven from a drive shaft 66 driven by any suitable motor; The gears 4, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 and 32 already referred to are also driven from the drive shaft 66, through the medium of a bevel gear 67 meshing with the gear 68 on a shaft 69 which shaft carries the gear on which is mounted the inlet valve 12 and which shaft likewise carries the gear 30. The gear 67 is operatively connected to the drive shaft through sprockets 70 and 71 connected by a chain 72, the sprocket 71' being mounted upon a shaft 73 carrying a bevel gear 74 meshing with a bevel gear 75 upon the shaft 76 carrying the gear 34 already referred to. .The gear train for driving, the .feed mechanism and the chain 15 are so proportioned that the container, from the time it is placed on the table 2, is conveyed in a smooth, continuous motion up to the time the containers are sealed in order that the containers 'may be filled and fed into the vacuumizing-chamber before the tops are applied, it being well known that in present practice the tops are applied to the containers before the same are fed to the vacuumizing chamber.

' The advantage of my arrangement over prior practice is obvious inasmuch as by my method and. apparatus thorough and complete exhaustion of the air in the containers is insured before the to s are applied.-

The inlet valve 12 is of novel construction in that it is mounted on its supporting element 36 in such a manner as to enable the valve to have a slight movement radially relatively to said supporting member. This 7 construction is shown in detail in Fig. 10. It will be seen that the shaft 69 is provided w1th keys 77 received by key ways 78 in a bushing 79 surrounding said shaft. and which bushing in turn is provided with keys 80 received b key ways 81. in the body of the valve itse f. The bushing 79is loosely mountedon the shaft 69, there 'being considerable pzlay between the bushing and said shaft. L1 ewise, there is considerable play between the keys 80 and the key ways 81 so to the shaft that the valve in effect floats with respect 69 and has movement, radially re at vely there o. In such an arrangement,

there being a vacuum within the chamber 1, the inlet valve 12 will always be held against its seat in the port 37 by atmospheric pres sure and any wear due to the rotation of the valve will'be taken up automatically by the radial movement of the Valve relatively to its supporting meinber 69 under atmospheric pressure.

Inasmuch as the tops are applied after the containers have been fed into the vacuumizing chamber and while the containers are being subjected to a vacuum, it becomes desirable to provide means whereby the dupply of container tops may be replenished without breaking this vacuum. The apparatus for this purpose is shown in detail in Fig. 5.

An inspection of these drawings will show tops to the containers the magazine 39 is available for re-loading. The magazines are carriedin a frame 40 secured to the side of the vacuumizing chamber in any suitable manner but here shown mounted upon a plate 41, being held in place thereon by a olt or stud 42 about which the magazines as a whole are adapted to be rotated. A port 43 is provided in the vacuum chamber, this port being positioned so that the containers in their passage through the vacuum chamber pass directly beneath the same. The lower end of each magazine open and designed to register with the port' 43 when the magazines are rotated into proper position'about the stud 42. In the position shown in Fig. 5 the magazine 38is 1n position to bring the lower end of the magazine in register with the port 43 inorder that the containertops may be discharged from the magazine to containers vacuumizing chamber.

The tops are retained in each magazme by meansof short studs 49 adapted to be reciprocated-transversely of the magazine, a pair'of these studs being provided for each magazine. The ends of these studs ad acent the inside of the magazine are provided with lips 50 upon which the contalner tops are adapted to rest. qsimultaneous reciprocation of these studs out of retaining position is obtained through the medium of a pair of vertically extending rods, the upper ends of each rod carrying a small gear meshing with a gear 53 at the top of the maga zine which gear is adapted to be rotated by within the.

a handle 54, accessible from the exterior of the magazine.

It baseen that by reason of the ployed including the apparatus for convey ing the container tops to the sealing station and by reason of the cooperation of the chain with the sealing mechanism that the movement of the containers from the time they are placed upon the table 2 and until they are sealed. is a continuous one. This enables me to fill the containers before they are fed into the vacuumizing chamber without danger of the contents of the containers being spilled during the transfer of the containers from the chain 15 to thesealing station.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the containers after being filled and without the tops in place thereon, may be fed continuous] into the vacuumizing chamber, being disc larged into the vacuumizing chamber from the inlet valve 12 by the fingers H which also transfer the containers to the chain 15, the containers being carried by this chain to position beneath the sealing station 57 where, as already described, the tops are applied, the containers lifted from the chain 15' and sealed, after which they are transferred to the chain 15 and finally discharged from the machine. The containers, throughout their travel move continuously up to the time they are lifted from'the' 'ing up the driving mechanism chain 15 and may therefore be filled before entering the vacuumizing chamber and fed into the same without the tops in place, without danger of spilling their contents. Itwill be observed that the containers from the moment they enter the vacuumizing chamber until they are discharged from the discharge valve 22, are subjected to a vacuum. I It will be obvious also from the foregoing that the time that the containers are subjected to a vacuum may be varied by slowor by increasiug the length of the chain 15 so that the 7 distance from the point of entry of the containers to the vacuum chamber tothe sealing station may be increased.

What I claim as new is:

In apparatus of the class described, the combination of a vacuumizing chamber, a port therein, a rotary inlet valve controlling said port, a seat for said valve, a shaft carrying said valve, said valve having movement radially of said shaft and held to its seat in the port by atmospheric pre$u1e This specification signed this 20th day of February, 1920.

NEI-LS P. BACK 

